Ch. Giscours
3rd Growth Grand Cru Classe
Margaux
2010

The producer

Chateau Giscours is, with just over 80 ha under vine, one of the largest Margaux properties. Following the Second World War, the chateau was run down and the vineyards depleted. When Nicholas Tari acquired the property in 1952, he invested heavily and the wine quality improved immensely. In 1995 he sold to Dutch businessman Eric Albada Jelgersma, who further invested in restructuring vineyards and renovating winery buildings. In 2018 Albada Jelgersma’s children Dennis, Valerie and Derk took over the running of the estate.

Located in the commune of Labarde, Giscours has 3^rd growth classification since 1855. The Grand Vin is typically a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, with a soupcon of Cabernet Franc, and is aged in 30-40% new oak barrels for 18 months. Since Alexander van Beek took over as managing director in 1995 and following an extensive replanting of the vineyards, the wines of Chateau Giscours have, especially from 2000 onwards, improved enormously.

The wine

Giscours’s Grand Vin is made up of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, with the rest a combination of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Fermentation takes place in a blend of stainless steel and concrete and is followed by ageing in 50% new French oak barrels for 18 months. A wine of pronounced and bright aromatics of ripe black fruit with spice and cedar notes, the palate is powerful and full-bodied with refined tannins. 

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.